Children in England growing up 'sedentary, scrolling and alone', say experts

Summary

Children are growing up “sedentary, scrolling and alone” because of a dramatic decline in play in their lives, say a panel of experts who have spent a year investigating play and childhood in England.The government should ban “no ball games” signs, raise the digital age of consent to 16, restore play to the education system and put in place a statutory “play sufficiency duty” for local authorities, say the panel, who are urgently calling for a cross-departmental national play strategy backed by an annual £125m of funding.The experts leading the Raising the Nation Play Commission report, the entrepreneur Paul Lindley and former children’s commissioner Anne Longfield, say that failure to provide children with the spaces they need outside the home is leading to a huge loss of outdoor play and independence.Lady Longfield, executive chair of the Centre for Young Lives, said: “Too many of our children are spending their most precious years sedentary, doomscrolling on their phones and often alone, while their health and wellbeing deteriorates. It is no coincidence that the least happy generation, the generation with the highest rates of obesity and rising ill health, is the generation that plays less and less.The commission brought together 19 experts, from doctors to play campaigners, to act as commissioners and then held a series of evidence sessions hearing from children, parents and professionals around the country.One of the key arguments experts made is that the rise in time spent on smartphones and gaming devices is being driven not just by the ubiquity of screens themselves, but by the loss of alternative ways and places for children to play.From traffic-dominated streets to the huge decline in youth clubs and loss of funds for playgrounds, experts pointed to the decline in neighbourhood spaces where children could actually play freely.Ingrid Skeels, co-director of Playing Out, was one of the 19 commissioners and has spent 15 years campaigning for children to have ...